In this episode, Shola Richards shares his deeply personal journey from a toxic workplace experience that led him to the brink of despair to becoming a global advocate for kindness, civility, and mental well-being in the workplace. Shola, author of Civil Unity, talks about how he turned his painful experience into his life's work, helping organizations create positive cultures and strong interpersonal connections. He emphasizes the need for leaders to see people as whole beings, not just "workers," and to build workplaces where kindness and results coexist. With a unique perspective, Shola discusses his philosophy of Ubuntu—the African principle of shared humanity—encouraging leaders and employees alike to embrace a mindset of togetherness and respect.
Shola Richards is a celebrated speaker, author, and workplace civility expert known for his advocacy in building more inclusive, respectful, and human-centered workplaces. After overcoming severe personal challenges in a toxic work environment, Shola dedicated his career to helping others navigate and transform organizational cultures through his speaking, writing, and training. His new book, Civil Unity, explores practical ways to foster civility and collaboration in even the most challenging environments. Shola’s work has been featured in numerous high-profile outlets, and he is sought after by Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, and government agencies to help cultivate cultures of radical kindness and meaningful change.
Turning Pain into Purpose: Shola shares his personal story of battling depression and almost losing his life due to a toxic work environment. He discusses how this breaking point became the catalyst for his mission to eliminate workplace incivility and improve organizational cultures.
The Case for Kindness in Leadership: Addressing leaders who may view kindness as “soft,” Shola makes a compelling argument that compassion drives better results, greater engagement, and higher discretionary effort from employees. He explains why focusing on human connection is essential for business success.
Ubuntu Philosophy in the Workplace: Shola dives into the concept of Ubuntu, meaning “I am because we are,” as a guiding principle for how teams and organizations can prioritize human connection, unity, and shared success over division and individualism.
Practical Tools for Civil Discourse: In a world increasingly divided, Shola provides actionable techniques for engaging in civil discourse, even around heated topics. He shares strategies for setting ground rules in conversations and reducing conflict by seeking common ground.
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Hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter its starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is sponsored by ImpactEleven.
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Shola Richards:
If you care about results, you need to look at this person as a full human being. But if you create an environment of fear, you're only gonna get their bodies and you're not gonna get their minds and their hearts and their souls. And these things are required to make real business change.
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Hey friends, Josh Linkner here. Delighted to bring you season three of Mic Drop, the number one podcast for professional speakers and thought leaders on the show. We connect with experts at the top of the field unpacking their success to help each of us grow and thrive from elevating your artistry to booking more gigs. Mic Drop is designed to give you the tools and insights you need to reach the next level. Together we'll accelerate the path to growth, success, and most importantly, impact
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Josh Linkner:
In this episode of Mic Drop, I sit down with the insightful powerhouse, schola Richards Schola is a man on a mission to help us build workplaces and lives that are rooted in civility, compassion, and unity. We discuss his story from working in toxic environments and struggling with mental health challenges to becoming a global authority on workplace kindness and effective leadership from a transformative moment on a Los Angeles highway to his powerful work on civility in the workplace, Shola shares stories that will resonate deeply with anyone seeking to lead with humanity. We also dive into his new book, civil Unity, the Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, our lives, and our world. If you've ever wondered how to foster more civility in your life, or if you've ever felt stuck working in a toxic environment, this episode will show you the path forward. Alright, Shola, welcome to Mic
Shola Richards:
Drop, Josh, man, so cool to be here. How you doing, brother? You good?
Josh Linkner:
I'm doing great and I'm doing better because I'm with you, my friend. Uh, I'm excited to, to have our conversation and and to learn more and, and share some ideas. Um, I wanted to start, 'cause not not everybody, I, I know you pretty well, but not everybody does. And you had quite a, quite a backdrop. I mean, you, you know, you were, you were in this career, you were thriving and you really hit this breaking point to a degree, which, which was a difficult moment, but obviously the beginning of the next chapter. Can you, before we get into what you're doing now, can you kind of take us back and walk us through that moment and, and, and, and how it's led you to where you are now?
Shola Richards:
Yeah. Happy to do it and I'll try to keep it tight 'cause it's a long story. So, gosh, about like 20 plus years ago at this point, I was working in a really toxic work environment. It was awful and I spare some of the details, but folks were just, it was, they made it very clear that I was not welcome in this particular workplace. And after about, you know, I've worked there for about 18 months or so, I ended up falling to a very, very deep depression. And I don't use that term euphemistically, I mean, sincerely depressed clinically. So, and one morning while going to this toxic job, I'm like, yo, I'm done. And the saddest part about this story for me, and it, it's always hard to talk about it, but it's, it's really necessary to break into this, is that, uh, I decided one morning while going to this incredibly toxic job that I was going to take my own life.
And I live here in Los Angeles and I attempted to drive my car off the 4 0 5 freeway overpass in an attempt to make it look like an accident. And thankfully, for reasons that I'm super grateful for the guardrail held, I'm still here. And long story, incredibly short, it set me on this journey to try to understand workplace bullying, unkindness, incivility, all the things like why people act this way. If you've ever had a moment like, why is she doing this? Why is this guy doing that? These are the things that got me on my path of organizational psychology and understanding like how people act. And uh, after that I had a wonderful career at UCLA Health where I worked there for 11 years overseeing training and development. And speaking wasn't really a thing for me. I was kind of just like this guy, I'm a writer, that's where people where I got started.
I'm a big time writer, I love to write. Um, but people are like, Hey, you're kind of inspiring. You should think about being a public speaker. I was like, what's that? That was a thing. I never heard that before. Um, and that set me on a path to examine public speaking. And in 2018, I was speaking a lot on the side in addition to my job. And I had one foot on the pier, figuratively speaking, which is my job, and another foot on the boat, which is my speaking career. And my boat's going off to sea. So I had to make a leap. And in 2018 I made a leap to do this full time and it's been the best decision of my entire life besides marrying my wife.
Josh Linkner:
Well that's amazing and thank you for sharing so, so openly about those challenges. And I think a lot of people, maybe they don't, they get to that extreme point of difficulty, but, but many people, as you know, are feeling that, the thing I love is that you use that moment of darkness and you flipped it into your, your moment, not only of your personal sort of salvation, but but also this incredible gift that you've given to people. And so it's funny, I was talking to someone the other day about mentors and you think about a mentor is someone who you, uh, have breakfast with every Tuesday, and they're your mentor for 10 years. And it's like this, this, you know, locked in relationship and that that is one format. But a mentor could be someone you don't know. It could be someone you've never met.
It could be a, a fictitious character and it even could be a negative one. And so the reason I bring this back to you is like, that, that moment was horrible, I'm sure, obviously very painful for you. And I'm so thankful that, that you, you, you conquered it, but also that was an incredible teacher for you. You, you, you saw the pain and agony that people are facing in the workforce. And then you said, I'm gonna make it my life's work to eradicate that, which is a really bold move. Now you do, you, you teach people about the opposite. How do you do your best work? How do you, how do you live in a culture of joy? So can you maybe talk about, you know, what, what you learned through, through those difficult moments that now, you know, kind of propelled you to, to share this message with the world?
Shola Richards:
Oh gosh, so much. Well, one thing that I learned is that I was, did not, I was not unaware of before, is that I'm not alone. There are so many people who are struggling and whether you are an individual contributor, you're a middle manager, you're an executive, you run your own business. So many people are struggling in private. And I think a lot of what I hope to do is to give permission to folks to be able to be like, Hey, it's okay not to be okay. And the first step is admitting that you're not. So we can go ahead and begin this path of healing. And if you're willing, I will take you there, but you have to be willing to join me. So that's kind of the first thing. But I've also learned too that in this industry there's a lot of folks that are future thinkers, like they, which is amazing.
And I am actually the opposite. I believe in innovation by looking at the past issues that have not been resolved over time. Whether it's like leadership or why can't people work together? Teamwork, why are people rude to each other? Mental health, how come I'm feeling sad? Like all these things that have been going on back Marcus Aurelius back in the day,
Josh Linkner:
That's just incredible, man. I love the first of all that you're talking about the practicality of a keynote. That it has to not only be inspiring, that's sort of the ante to play, but it is also gotta gotta last. You know, you gotta leave, leave ideas that are, that are practical and can be implemented and, and make a difference in the months and years to come. And you're, you're really a master at that. Um, I wanted to to to ask you your perspective. So, so there are some people, although luckily it's shifting the other direction, but some think about the, the, the typical prototypical old school grumpy, you know, quote unquote results oriented leader. And they say something like, I, this is not my voice, but imagine they might say compassion, joy, you know, mental health, that's that's for sissies. I need results. Cut the BS out, that's all soft. What what is your response to that? And again, I'm, I'm being exaggerated 'cause I I don't believe that, but but how do you respond when that that type of vibe comes your way?
Shola Richards:
Um, I could tell you right now that these people do exist and they are happy to tell me this. And it's like I'm in a position now where I can be really real with folks like, Hey, I wish you well because that is not going to serve you in the long run. Do you care about? Let's, so one of the things I often do is my work is really around civility and finding common ground. So it's like, hey, one thing that we can both agree on is that we both want results, right? Positive results. Do you think that you're going to get discretionary effort from someone who you said, I don't care about their mental health, compassion doesn't make any sense and I don't see them as a human, I only see them as a widget that can serve me to be able to reach my business ends.
Do you think that you're gonna get discretionary effort from that person? Well, I don't care. It's called work and not play. No one said it's play my friend. What I'm saying is that if you care about results, you need to look at this person as a full human being. And I don't, it doesn't mean that you need to like lay on the couch and have a therapy session with this person, but you do need to see that they're someone with hopes, fears, they're scared, they're not always gonna bring their best selves. And you need to lean into that and help them so that they can. But if you create an environment of fear, one of not recognizing their humanity, you're only gonna get their bodies and you're not gonna get their minds and their hearts and their souls and these things are required to make real business change. So I think we're moving past it. There's always gonna be the curmudgeons out there. They're just like, oh, whatever these people are Susies. It's like, well then I'm so sad for you because no one is going to want to work for you. They're gonna follow you only because they have to, not because they choose to. And if you truly want to change the world, you have to have people follow you. 'cause they choose to, not because they have to.
Josh Linkner:
I, you know, I would say it was a, it was a silly, you know, prompt 'cause I don't believe that. But, um, you, you, you answered it so perfectly and, and to me, that's what a thought leader does. Shola, you, you stood up for your belief, you're like, no, actually that's wrong and here's why. And you did it in such a, such a, a, a, a well-organized, thoughtful way. It seems to me that it would be disarming to even those curmudgeons. Um, speaking of, of of disarming, um, you know, you, you, you have a body of work around civility. And, and this is fascinating to me because our world, and I know we're not supposed to talk about politics and we won't, we won't talk about parties, but you know, clearly we are in in times of great, uh, lack of civility. You know, politics are as mudslinging and name calling and, and rhetoric and, you know, divisive language as opposed to fighting for the things that unite us. And, and you talk about unity and civility. How are you thinking about that topic in these somewhat turbulent times? And what do you think the answer is for us to, to sort of regain civility and, and, and positive discourse instead of, you know, mudslinging and hatred?
Shola Richards:
Well, a couple of things. So I
It doesn't make any sense. So what I talk about is how we can get into real civil discourse. So one of the things that we can avoid is this idea of attacking others. There's research on this. I'm like, sorry, I'm a little bit of a nerd when it comes to this stuff. Uh, the reactance theory by a guy named Jack Brem, 1966. And basically what he talks about, I wanna summarize it because I can literally talk about this forever, is it talks about how when people choose to attack others, what happens. It's not, if I said for example, you know, if you're like, man, I love guns, man, no one's gonna tread on me. I love my guns. And I'm like, look, you weirdo ammo, sexual freak job, no one's coming for your guns. You weirdo hillbilly, get outta my face. The person looked like, oh my gosh, thank you for your kind and astute commentary.
I am so grateful that you took them. You know, I need to look within, clearly I'm using my guns as a way to self-soothe for my bedroom failures with my wife. Like, no one's doing that, right,
You're less likely to step on the grass. So when you attack someone, all you're doing is getting them to double down on their troublesome beliefs. That's the first thing. Secondly, you are destroying any hopes of them seeing the merits of your position, right? If you're gonna attack someone and call them names, they're not gonna wanna listen to what you have to say. And three, and probably most importantly, all we're doing is contributing to the toxicity that we all claim to hate. So instead, we have to talk about finding common ground. And often I'll give you one if you're, if you're up for it, Josh, there's a real practical thing we can do. So, you know, depending on when this episode airs, the holidays could be around the corner and maybe you're having, you know, holiday dinner with someone who votes differently than you. Let's use politics.
Let's say your Uncle George Fiction. Uncle George is a big fan of candidate A, right and says, candidate A is the greatest candidate. I love this candidate. You're a huge fan of candidate B, right? You hate candidate A and the fact that this person is coming to your home and talking about candidate A is driving you insane. So one thing that you could do very practically to build and increase civil discourse is to set ground rules. When you have polarizing discussions, it's so simple. Hey, uncle George, listen, I know we're about to veer into politics and this can be a really kind of polarizing issue for us. Can you agree to remain respectful about this topic even if my views on this are different from yours? What's powerful about setting ground rules in this way is it does something really, really simple. The first thing it does is it challenges Uncle George to engage in a really polarizing discussion with civility. And two, if they're unwilling to find the emotional maturity or impulse control to do so, you can disengage and save yourself the trouble. Because the only way we're gonna remove and reduce unproductive conflict is reduce our time in unproductive conflict. And it's a powerful way to get people to challenge them to engage in a topic civilly, thoughtfully and respectfully while still holding onto the views that you hold. Soldier,
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Josh Linkner:
So funny, I I've, I've written for years and years and years and published and all that, the piece that I've got the most responsive from, literally in the entire time I've been writing 15, almost 20 years, I wrote a piece that basically said, let's look for the good in each other, even if our politicians can't. And I basically said like, Hey, you know what? We we're so busy saying how horrible the other party is. What if we tried to find something good? I'm sure there's something good in everybody. So I literally counted the words, I wrote one paragraph on Donald Trump, one paragraph on Joe Biden, this was the 2020 election, and I do have an opinion, which I kept to myself honestly. I said, Trump, Trump is an effective communicator, blah, blah, blah, blah. I found some things that that that were, you know, uh, positive attributes.
And I said like the same number of things about Joe Biden. And so it was really, I I was scrutinizing, it was balanced. And I basically said, you know, if if our po if we can't count on our politicians to find common ground, maybe we could count on ourselves. So it was really like, I I thought it was a warm, generous piece. I was not taking a position, I was not poking anyone in the eye. I was flooded with feedback. And, and of course it wasn't like, yes, let's lock arms in solidarity and be wonderful humans and, and enjoy heart light energy pouring through our souls. It was like, yeah, I agree with your point, but how could you say that because Donald Trump is blah, blah, blah. And the next quarter was, how could you say that Joe Biden is blah, blah, blah, blah. And so what they did, even though I presented it really gently, was that they, they, they, like you said, defended their position and became embolden, like just started spewing. So my question to you Shola is like, why do you think human beings gravitate to that? It seems like our natural state is around love and harmony and kindness and compassion, but, but, but in many cases it's not. What, what is the lure that's bringing people away from that, that that center of, of, of humanity?
Shola Richards:
I think the key is that human beings seek validation more than they seek information. It's very, if I, if you believe so deeply in an ideology, in a candidate, in a way of life, and you are being presented with information that runs counter to that and could potentially upend everything that you believed up to this point, then a lot of people look at that and say like, oh my God, my life has been a lie. That's too painful for people. So it's like, yeah, yeah, that was a cute article, Josh, but anyway, how could you say that about this person's terrible, this guy's the worst, this woman's like, and it gives them that sense of like, I'm still, my life is not gonna lie. What I believed up to this point makes sense and I'm not going to concede ground because if I do, then what's gonna end up happening is I'm going to realize that all of this work was for nothing.
So what I do, very similar to that piece that you wrote in 2020 is the work that I do to say, Hey, listen, we regardless a few things that we have in common, right? We all care about freedom. We all deserve to live in respect, live in a safe world where we're able to love who we want and feel respected, et cetera, et cetera. Just the basic, basic stuff. We, we, we root for the same sports teams. We shop at the same grocery stores or kids go to the same schools. It's like when we find these things that bring us together, and I'm so with you, Josh, it's not this kumbaya thing. Like we're all the same, we're not the same, we're not the same, which is fine, but can I respect you and your difference and my differences and still be able to walk together and share this earth that we all have to inhabit?
That's the goal. And whether I'm on a, a stage speaking in front of a thousand people or at my daughter's soccer game, it's about realizing how we can find a way to bridge this divide. And the only way we're gonna do this is by taking that step forward to just make a little bit of change to give someone faith in humanity. Like that's a good dude. And one thing on this too, Josh, 'cause it kind of relate, relates to speaking, it's like you also have to be authentic, right? So you just like
SI am when I'm with my wife and daughters or I'm at a stage talking to 10,000 people, it's like I'm going to be respectful to the AB team because that's how I roll. I am going to email the meeting planner or text the meeting planner once I land and say, Hey, I'm here. Like these little things
Josh Linkner:
Brother Theresa, I love this. Sh you bring up a really interesting point. My observation is in, you know, 'cause I, I have the great fortune to work with a lot of speakers that I'm kind of deep in the world as are you that some speakers, um, they're, they're the opposite. Like they say I speak on, on relationships and they have terrible relationships or I'm, I'm the most, you know, most hungry bird person in the room and they're really lazy. So, so that's weird. They're just total incongruence. Then there's people that are, are, are basically need to hear their own message. So like, let's say I'm called to saying, okay, I need to be more respectful and maybe I have a problem with that, but I'm, I'm kind of on the path with the message. I'm trying to, you know, evolve it. I'm bringing people along with me and then, and then that's the middle. And then the other end, which is what you're describing is total congruence, which is you are living the message, you're not, you're not just talking about something, you are that something, you are the physical embodiment of it. And, and that notion of embodied wisdom really comes through to an audience. How have you cultivated that and when did you sort of come to that conclusion that, you know, I have to not just talk about something, I have to be the thing that I'm talking about.
Shola Richards:
Well, it's funny because when you're describing those three stages,
Like, uh, it's just so much easier to be me. I remember when I first started speaking and someone told me, you know what, shola you smile too much. Uh, people aren't gonna take you seriously and where are your white papers to support the work that you do? And I was like, oh man, that sounds like a, that's probably a fair point. So I went on stage, stopped smiling, started offering like white papers, read the white papers and share your takeaways with their partner. I'll check in in about five minutes. People are falling asleep, they're walking out, they're basically just saying, this guy sucks. And I'm like, and it was crazy to me 'cause I had this epiphany. I was like, I, I don't even like doing this 'cause it's not who I am. And they don't even like it either. So if they're not gonna like it, they might as well not like me being authentically myself versus me being this weird bizarro version of Shola who's this pseudo academic that's so easily exposed as that's not who I am.
So when I realize to be me, I mean it's so much easier. I'm a corn ball, I drop dad jokes. I'm a guy that's tries to be funny every now and then, but I don't take my work seriously. Sorry, excuse me. Excuse me. Let me get that straight. I take my work very seriously. I don't take myself seriously.
Josh Linkner:
It, it's so good and I think it's a really good, important message because you know, right, if, if we think we have to be the perfect version of the message, that's such pressure. And it can be stressful. You're, you're saying like, I do my best. I'm trying to be that and sometimes I'm not and that's okay too because I'm learning and growing along with your audiences. Um, uh, I I love it. Shola. So, um, I wanna switch gears a little bit and we, we'll talk about your speaking practice in a minute, but there's one thing I've been really excited to chat with you about. When we first met, you shared a word with me that I'd never heard. Uh, and I'm gonna probably pronounce it wrong, you'll correct me. Is it Ubuntu? Ubuntu
Shola Richards:
Very close. Yeah. Ubuntu, ub.
Josh Linkner:
That's great. Okay. Yeah. And so we had an email dialogue about it and I, I started looking up and I got like this whole rabbit hole and it was really a word that struck me on the heart. I, I run a venture capital fund called Mudita Venture Partners. Mudita is a Sanskrit term, which means taking joy in other people's success. So when I look at the remarkable success you're having out there, instead of getting like jealous and angry and questioning my own life, I sound like happy for you. Awesome. That's mudita. So that was an intentional word that I chose to name our venture fund af after. And you've really anchored on this word, and I'd love to help you, uh, share with us what does the word mean? How'd you come about it? And, and what, what was so struck a nerve with you so much that, that it's become such a big part of your work.
Shola Richards:
Oh gosh, I love this word and, and so I'm so grateful that you brought it up. So tu is a trans, a transformational African philosophy. That means I am because we are, it's the height of human kindness, human compassion, and human connectedness. And, and, and it's, what it means is like there's no place where Shola ends and Josh begins like, we are connected. So if I were to harm you, invariably I'm only harming myself because of our, our deep, deep connection to each other. Now, the problem is with a lot of people, they only see separateness of like, I'm black, you're white, you're Jewish, I'm Christian, what whatever. It like, it's weird how people find these strange like ways to divide. So Ubuntu is more around leaning into our shared humanity. I mean, if you think about it, Josh, right? Like, let's go back to I a horrible moment in our country's history, but we all remember it September 11th, 2001, right?
Many of us remember where we were at that time in the new year in, in New York City when the World Trade Center towers went down and people were in the rubble and folks are pulling people out. It did not matter if you were gay, straight, black, white, republican, democrat, Jew, Muslim, cisgender, transgender, none of that mattered. We were just here to honor our shared humanity. You never saw footage of someone about to pick up someone in the rubble and be like, hold on a second. How do you plan on voting in this November's election? Like, no one's doing that. They're reaching out and it's like, listen, I'm just honoring my shared humanity. You need help. Someone said to me a while ago, I wish that we could find a way to go back to September 12th, 2001, the day after when we were so connected and it didn't matter.
And we just coalesced around this idea of just being Americans, right? So the work around Ubuntu is something that I made point of, how can we bring this into our workplaces? How can we bring this into our dialogue? How can we make this practical? 'cause again, I'm a nerd, if it's not practical, it's not really gonna work. So I was like, how can you find a way to really lean into what do the most highly functioning teams do? What are the Ubuntu characteristics that these teams not just preach or have and poster values on their wall in the boardroom, but they're actually putting into practice. Whether you work in an elementary school, you are a flight crew for an airline, or you are a Fortune 500 business running the world in some cases, how do they actually do it and how they do it well, and that's what I've been my whole career working on, is taking this Ubuntu mindset, bringing into workplaces so people can honor their shared humanity and do their best work.
Josh Linkner:
Amazing. I absolutely love it. Um, so question for you. When, when things are going well, one might say it's easy to have idealistic views and and views that are, um, you know, celebratory and those, you know, wrapped in abundance and love. So 2018 you launched your speaking practice. You, you, you, you put that one foot off the dock, jumped on the boat, head out to sea. I'm sure you had a great year 2018, I know 2019 you're probably rocking, got tons of bookings ready for 2020. And then for all of us, um, there was a little bit of a tur turbulence in the sea and, and Covid hits and, and the entire speaking industry is shut down. How were you able to tap into this vibe of unity, compassion, generosity, bu to when, when in fact it's a very difficult time and there was actually real scarcity in the world, even though, you know, we, you and I don't live that way in our lives. That was a unique period of time. How did these ideals, which many of, I think people say, but then let go quickly when things get tough, how did you hold onto those principles and how you used them to navigate those difficult waters?
Shola Richards:
That's a great question. So I I I just gonna be very real. So when the bottom fell out, I wanna say it was like March 12th, 2020,
So Ubuntu was not front of mind
So at that moment with a dear friend who was very helpful for me, I started to lean in like, yes, it is about shared humanity. Yeah, I gotta, as they say, cry hard. Just don't cry for long. Let's figure out dust yourself off and let's figure out what you have the capability to do that's within your control. I can connect to my shared humanity. I can connect to others who are struggling just as much as I am. Thankfully I do have a semi, a working connected device and a working internet connection. I can reach them that way. And then I started to lean in step by step to the principles that brought me to this point in the first place. People are dealing with unkindness, people are scared. People's mental health earns shambles. People are working from home and it's, and it's really hard for them.
Can you serve them in a way that connects in a selfless way? When I did that, it not to sound super like a Hallmark movie, lifetime
Josh Linkner:
Hmm. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. And um, so now thankfully we're through that period, uh, we've got new challenges in the world of course, but, uh, the speaking industry is rocking. Give us a little sense of how 2024 has shaped up for you, and then also I'm really curious to hear what's on the horizon for you in the next couple years.
Shola Richards:
Yeah, so 2024 has been great, you know, it's been
Um, based on demand that people wanna talk about this. It's the, this incivility is dividing workplaces, it's dividing families, it's dividing communities. People want practical tools on how to do this. And I am going to suspend humility if it's okay, and say that civil unity is the most practical empowering book on the topic of civility ever created. And people are, are, you can use this. So my now goal is to take this keynote and help to use it to repair the world and to get us to come together, especially during election season, especially during the holidays and the aftermath. That's to come in 20, 25 and beyond. That's what I'm the most excited about. I'm just so sad seeing people who have lost connection with family members can't con you can't even talk to the guy who works across the hall because of whatever reason. There's a work related issue of personal and can't find a way to come together. And I'm going to do this hard work until the day that I die. And as far as I'm concerned, I want to heal this world for my daughters, for my wife, for my fluffy dog, and yeah, for myself and for my, my friends as well. And I feel like if I lean into this work and do this and hopefully lead the way in this movement, we can create a better world for all of us.
Josh Linkner:
What a beautiful place to end our conversation. Shola, thank you so much. Thank you for your insight, for your deep passion and commitment to the body of work that you have for living the, the, uh, the work and for sharing so vulnerably when, when you struggle. 'cause 'cause you're right. We all, we all do. And uh, I think that you've given a lot us a lot to think about. I wish you continued success, momentum, my friend, and maybe we all truly enjoy this, this notion of tu together.
Shola Richards:
Likewise, Josh, appreciate you, man. Thank you.
Josh Linkner:
I just love today's conversation. Show us' courage and authenticity shine through in everything that he does. His message of Ubuntu, I am because we are really hits home. It's a call to see the humanity in one another, to prioritize real connection over personal gain. And to remember that building a great culture starts with small acts of kindness. What stood out to me most was Shula's reminder that even the strongest leaders aren't immune to life's challenges. His willingness to share both his struggles and his breakthroughs. It's a testament to the power of vulnerability. We often think of civility as a soft skill, but Shola showed us today that it's the foundation for strong teams, resilient organizations, and a healthy society. If Shula's work spoke to you as much as it did to me, check out his new keynote on Civil Unity. He's truly redefining what it means to lead with empathy, and I can't wait to see the ripple effects of his work. Until next time, let's all strive to practice more civility, one interaction at a time. Thanks so much for joining me on another episode of Mic Drop. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. If you love the show, please share it with your friends and don't forget to give us a five star review. For show transcripts and show notes, visit mic drop podcast.com. I'm your host, Josh Linkner. Thanks so much for listening and here's to your next mic drop moment.